Mother’s Day – St. Simons Island

May 13, 2014

Spontaneous beach day at St Simons? Yes please.

I had, you guessed it, the best Mother’s Day Ever.

First off, let me just say that the kids have been driving me a little bananas lately. And by “the kids” I mean “the boys” because my thirteen year old is an angelic nerdy girl child who never has caused me a problem in her life. #knockonwood #PTL

But the boys, oy vey. They’re not hard-to-handle boys they’re just . . . BOYS. Boys that are home ALL DAY LONG and are not afraid to ask you the same question 1,489 times even though you’ve given them the same answer every time (no).

Boys who are prone to bicker and play favorites and be less than willing to take turns.

So after sleeping in on Mother’s Day (9:00 AM, baby) and being asked a couple of questions against my will, I decided we needed to get of the house. ASAP.

It was a gorgeous, not-too-hot kinda day so I batted my eyelashes, played my Mother’s Day card and asked for a day trip.

Some fantastic coastal islands are just an hour from us but for some reason it’s been ages since we had a real beach day. Not just a take-your-sandles-off-and-dip-your-toes-in Hi and Bye kind of day but a bonafide PACK-ALL-THE-TOWELS-AND-SHOVELS-AND-BUCKETS sort of reckless abandon.

And it did this mother’s heart good. To just sit in a chair and sip on a cold drink and watch the Wild Things win at childhood. No fighting, no boredom, no questions . . . just exuberance and sunshine.

And it made me realize something; We haven’t been getting out enough. And it’s escalated into this icky, bored, cabin fever sort of energy in our family. But between the birthday party on Friday and the beach trip on Sunday I felt completely refreshed. Like our family balance had been reset.

We need more time to unplug. I don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. We need whole hours that are set aside to devote to not being interrupted. (Because, geez louise, being interrupted is the worst).

Because seriously, how presh is this?

I want to make memories with my children. I haven’t read Carlos’ book #MomentMaker but I’m fairly sure that’s what it’s about. My kids will never be tricked into believing their childhood was perfect. But I would like them to come away with a little magic to take into adulthood with them. A little reckless abandon and exuberance and sunshine.

Comments

I found you on “A deeper story” and came to visit you. I am so glad. What a wonderful little family. You have the sons of thunder and they enjoyed the day too. My children are grown adults. I will never have a mother’s day at the beach. How nice you have captured the day so beautifully. I ended up writing a tribute to my mom – Her name was Grace. Have a great day.

This is so wonderful to read, Jess. And what you’re discovering is SO IMPORTANT. You do need time away, as a family, out of the house, away from the routine. Please carry this knowledge with you as you travel to southeast Asia, too, okay??? And this phrase – ‘watch the wild things win at childhood’ – fabulous. Makes me smile inside to read these two posts. Big.